Individual XML message processing platform

ABSTRACT

A communications platform contains a message processing platform along with an XML message format which provides for the reception, organization, summarization, filing, storage, synthesis, routing, formatting, and intelligent processing of XML-based electronic messages and SMTP electronic mail. The platform allows a user to define an endpoint table which correlates message attributes with different user endpoints such as home phone, cell phone, email etc. Received messages are sent to a first endpoint in accordance with the message attributes and the endpoint, if no receipt is received from the first endpoint, a second endpoint is selected from the endtable and the message is re-routed.

This non-provisional application is a divisional of prior applicationSer. No. 09/661,499, filed on Sep. 14, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,062,535the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by referenceherein, which claims the benefit of the provisional application Ser. No.60/194,254, entitled Consumer XML Message Processing Platform, filed onApr. 3, 2000.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material,which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

Cross reference is made to a related invention disclosed in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/661,882 entitled Method And System For ContentDriven Electronic Messaging, filed concurrently, the subject matter ofwhich is owned by the present applicants and the teachings of which areincorporated herein by reference.

Cross reference is also made to a related invention disclosed in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/432,896 entitled Individual XML messageprocessing platform, filed concurrently, the subject matter of which isowned by the present applicants and the teachings of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to a communications platform, and morespecifically the present invention pertains to a message processingplatform that enables individuals to receive, store, synthesize andintelligently process XML-based electronic messages and standard SMTPemail from corporations or any other senders in a way that fullyintegrates individuals' existing email boxes, cell phones, pagers, faxmachines, telephones, and other devices.

Despite the limitations of existing technologies, the electroniccommunications market is enormous and growing very rapidly. There areover 260 million email boxes worldwide and 9.2 billion messages sentdaily in the United States alone. Mobile data appliances are likewisegrowing rapidly with over 208 million digital wireless phone subscribersworldwide today. Similarly, Internet appliances are expected to explodeto 55 million connected devices by 2002. As shown in FIG. 1, thereexists a need for a new communications platform capable of fullyintegrating individuals' existing email boxes, cell phones, pagers, faxmachines, telephones, and other devices, to take full advantage of theseexploding markets.

A novel communications platform is needed by businesses and consumersdue to 1) inherent limitations of email, 2) lack of integration betweenconsumer “endpoints” (email addresses, wireless devices, fax machines,etc.) and 3) exploding electronic communications complexity.

First, email is not a suitable medium for corporations to interact withtheir customers in anything but a “newsletter” fashion. Email does not,by definition, contain anything more intelligent than a sender'saddress, an urgent/non-urgent tag, a subject line, and a text body.Email, by definition, typically goes into a user's single inbox where itis opened, read, and stored or deleted. Once more and more corporationssend their customers email messages, the receiver quickly has a problemwith inbox overload. Email also cannot be relied upon for urgentmessages or alerts since users check email with varying frequency.Further, email cannot be easily automatically sorted, synthesized,filed, re-formatted or summarized. Today, in order to automatically fileor process incoming email, a user has to manually setup message-specificrules such as a search of the subject line or specify an action based ona specific sender's address. As corporations and individuals sendincreasing volumes of text messages a more intelligent way to process,store, and synthesize these messages is needed. It will not beconvenient, for example, to open every message from a person's creditcard vendor to see that payments have been posted, transactions havebeen processed, or bills have been mailed. These messages should beintelligently stored so that the consumer can view a synthesized statusor see detail if desired.

Second, many individuals use a variety of electronic communicationaddresses for their email boxes, wireless phones, pagers, fax machines,instant messaging, etc. There is no way to effectively integrate thosedevices: pagers, email boxes, telephones and fax machines are ignorantof each other. There are webmail and email solutions that will forwardemail messages to pagers or cell phones or convert email text to a faxmessage or a voice message. None of these solutions intelligentlydetermine the correct destination of each specific incoming messagewithout the user's manual control or message-specific rules being setupbeforehand. Existing services, for example, will not automaticallyunderstand that a flight cancellation alert should go to any device areceiver has that is likely to deliver the message immediately but aspecial fares notice from the same airline should go to a lowerimmediacy, less intrusive device. Many unified messaging solutions forceusers to give up existing addresses and phone numbers and do not processintelligent incoming messages. These platforms only enable to receiverto convert and listen to messages from a variety of platforms. Whilesome will find a subscriber by trying multiple phone numbers, there isno real intelligent routing based on the content of the incoming messagesince the incoming message is generally a voicemail or an email.

Third, communications complexity is exploding for corporations andindividuals. New “connected” devices are being introduced every day—eachwith different capabilities, formatting, protocol requirements, andaddresses. Individuals have new choices in the types of information theycan receive and the devices upon which that information can be receivedand viewed. Existing message connections between individuals and/orcorporations are typically point-to-point. If a corporation wants tosend a message to a customer's pager, that corporation sends a messagedirectly to that pager's address. Likewise if an individual wants tosend a text message to a friend's specific endpoint, that person in manycases has to know and remember multiple email addresses, a PCS wirelessphone text address, a fax number, a pager number, etc. If the receivingindividual ever changes pagers or wireless phone providers, thatindividual has to remember to provide all possible sending parties withthe new device-specific address.

As wireless PDAs, cars, home appliances, and other devices all begin tohave their own electronic messaging address, the existingpoint-to-point, address-specific messaging approach will becomeextremely burdensome and complex for senders and receivers. This problemis exacerbated by the need to limit access to a specific individual'scommunications world but enable access for friends and family withouthaving to share passwords. FIG. 2 shows these above-listed limitationson the current state of electronic messaging.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a type of communications platform also knowngenerally as a “MessageML Processing Platform”, of which the “CenterpostPlatform” is one example of this type of platform. This novelcommunications platform enables individuals to receive, store,synthesize, format and intelligently process XML-based electronicmessages and standard SMTP email from corporations or any other sendersin a way that fully integrates individuals' existing email boxes, cellphones, pagers, fax machines, telephones, and other devices. This novelcommunications platform reduces complexity, lowers costs, and increasescapabilities for corporations that interact electronically with theircustomers. The communications platform also enables many valuablenotification applications for corporations such as airlines, brokerages,financial institutions, and retailers, among others. For individuals,the present invention delivers valuable information while simplifyingthe management of all electronic communications. The invention is neededdue to inherent limitations of email, lack of integration betweenindividual “endpoints” (email addresses, wireless devices, fax machines,etc.) and exploding electronic communications complexity.

The present invention enables corporations and third parties to defineand create applications using a common, centralized platform. Theinvention can be used 1) by individuals via a web-mail like offering, 2)by telecommunications and internet service providers on a hosted orlicensed basis, 3) by corporations on a hosted or licensed basis, or 4)by other service providers on a hosted or licensed basis.

FIG. 3A shows a schematic view of the present invention as applied toelectronic messaging between corporations and individuals. This novelplatform is also intended to function between corporations, and betweenindividuals, and is not merely limited to communications betweencorporations and individuals. FIG. 3B shows some examples of the flow ofcommunication using such a centralized, user-centric hub.

FIG. 3C lists some of the example interactions using the Centerpostplatform.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram detailing the need for a novel communicationsplatform capable of utilizing intelligent messages and integratingendpoints;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram displaying electronic messaging withoutthe novel communications platform;

FIGS. 3A through 3C are block diagrams and charts displaying andindicating electronic messaging with the novel communications platform,along with examples of interactions available due to the platform;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between theelements of the SmartMessage of the present invention, and theinterrelationship between the SmartMessage, the Stylesheets, and theactivity and event payloads of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an example of code for a SmartMessage of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the interrelationship betweenactivity classes and event classes of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B-1 to 7B-10 are examples of code for an InformantStylesheet and a SmartMessage Stylesheet of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the interrelationship between theelements of the SmartMessage of the present invention, including thereceipt function;

FIGS. 9A-D are an example of code for a receipt SmartMessage Stylesheetof the present invention;

FIGS. 10A through 10F shows examples of website pages containingendpoint setup and management information in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 shows an example of a website page containing deliveryinformation in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the architecture of the communicationsplatform of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the flow of the SmartMessage of thepresent invention;

FIG. 14 shows an example of a website page containing folio informationin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 15A through 15C show examples of website pages containing messageinformation in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The novel communications platform contains specific components to theinvention that enable a complete solution to the inherent limitationsfound in current communication platforms. These components include thecapability for individuals to receive raw XML electronic messages(including those sent from particular corporations); a novel XML messageformat and structure called “MessageML” which enables corporations andothers to create their own message formats, which can be processed bythe new communications platform; an intelligent processing, storage,conversion, and routing engine in a scalable architecture that is awareof each individual's communications environment; “nickname-basedrouting” to enable device-specific sending without the specific deviceaddress; information “folios” which enable synthesized viewing andstorage of all received electronic messages composed in MessageML format(also known as “SmartMessages”), and which are organized into senderdefinable “activities” and “events;” and a web-based user-configuredinterface to enable simple viewing, control, and configuration. Thenovel communications platform also allows access to its user-configuredinterface from other communications channels in addition to theInternet, such as through a mobile phone using a WAP browser or voicerecognition.

The novel communications platform, through its SmartDelivery system,allows for corporations to utilize the functions inherent in theplatform for its own customers, without requiring those customers tohave their own platform or a MessageML account. The novel communicationsplatform also provides a service whereby knowledgeable individuals, orAmateur Informants, facilitate the use of the platform for individualsand small businesses by allowing these individuals or small businessesto utilize the functions of the novel platform without the need to learnto use XML coding. The platform also provides for 2-way XML messages,whereby the recipient of a SmartMessage can automatically respondregardless of the endpoint that the message is received on and theresponse will be delivered back to the sender in XML format.

The novel communications platform also provides for a platformsubscriber web page whereby designated personal information of theindividual is accessible on a secure basis; an endpoint wallet, whichallows subscribers to easily transfer their endpoint information toother web pages and the like; and a message based endpointconfiguration, in which a SmartMessage from a communication deviceautomatically sets up that device as an endpoint in the user'sSmartDelivery or SmartMessage account.

Similar to electronic mail, XML electronic messages can currently besent over existing Internet and SMTP transport networks. However,currently XML electronic messages can generally only be received bycorporate systems in business-to-business communications. The presentinvention provides the first capability for individuals to receive XMLelectronic messages or SmartMessages.

A SmartMessage 10 is an XML document sent by an Informant to a novelcommunications platform like Centerpost. An Informant is a sender ofSmartMessages 10 or MessageML electronic messages. Informants can becorporations, other types of organizations, or individuals. FIG. 4 showsan example of a SmartMessage 10. A SmartMessage 10 carries Event content12, or “payload”, (such as a flight cancellation or a shipmentconfirmation), and is associated with and updates an Activity 14 (suchas a travel itinerary or DVD order). FIG. 6 shows the relationshipbetween the activity classes 14 and event classes 12. In use, aSmartMessage 10 is sent to individual recipients through a MessageMLService Provider such as Centerpost. The SmartMessage 10 and theMessageML system is described in a patent application filed concurrentlyherewith, entitled Method and System for Content Driven ElectronicMessaging, and incorporated herein by reference. FIG. 5 shows the codefor a sample SmartMessage.

Meta-data, such as formatting information, is found by referencing theassociated Informant stylesheet 16 (which describes the informant) andthe associated SmartMessage stylesheet 18 (which describes the activityand event). FIGS. 7A and 7B-1 to 7B-10 show examples of an Informantstylesheet 16 and a SmartMessage Stylesheet 18, respectively. AnInformant stylesheet 16 describes the meta-data about the Informant,such as its name, website address, industry category, and the like.Another role of the Informant Stylesheet 16 is to provide informationabout and authenticate the sender of the message. The InformantStylesheet 16 usually resides on the Informant's web server and isversioned by its filename. A MessageML platform like the novelCenterpost communications platform caches these stylesheets.

The SmartMessage Stylesheet 18 serves three main functions. TheSmartMessage Stylesheet 18 defines activity and event class meta dataand organization; defines the XML schemas of the activity 14 and eventclass 12 payloads (content); and defines how the payload is rendered forspecific endpoints 20. The SmartMessage stylesheet 18 also informs theplatform of the types of messages (or “event classes”) that have beencreated and may be sent by that Informant. The SmartMessage Stylesheet18 generally resides on one of the Informant's web servers, butInformants can also share a common stylesheet on a shared server.

A MessageML platform like Centerpost caches these stylesheets in its owndatabase so it can refer to them quickly without accessing the Internet.A single SmartMessage Stylesheet XML document can contain meta-dataabout several SmartMessage activities and events.

The SmartMessage protocol has been developed to create an open,extensible message format used by the MessageML platform. TheSmartMessage protocol enables corporations and other senders to createtheir own message formats that can be processed by the platform.

SmartMessages 10 contain standardized XML-tags that enable the platformto understand the nature of the message and forward, copy, format,convert, store, consolidate, summarize, or stop the communicationaccordingly. The XML tags describe things like the message immediacy,reach, sensitivity, and purpose. XML SmartMessages 10 areself-describing and self-formatting via stylesheets. In addition, theXML messages are fully extensible by senders to encompass their ownfields and definitions. These tags are used by the platform toautomatically determine how to display, summarize, and process incomingmessages. With XML, the communications platform can more intelligentlyprocess, sort, synthesize, format and route messages.

The novel communications platform is a highly scalable and reliable XMLmessaging engine capable of processing messages based on highly dynamicand openly definable logic. The platform is fully aware of eachindividual user's entire communications environment, such as emailboxes, cell phones, pagers, fax machines, telephones, etc. as well asthe devices of spouses, assistants, friends, and co-workers, whom theuser may wish to receive a copy of a message depending on its specificcontent. The communications platform automatically processes based onthe pre-defined defaults, the user's preferences regarding hiselectronic endpoints (email boxes, wireless devices, etc.) and theattributes of the message itself. This embedded intelligence, forexample, would send travel weather alerts to the user's home fax butflight cancellations to the user's cellphone with a copy to theassistant's work fax. Users can modify the rules if they prefer todeviate from the systems defaults. With this novel communicationsplatform, individuals only define their endpoints once in a single spotand retain a lifetime electronic address for all of their endpoints.

The communications platform also contains escalation rules that allowfurther intelligence in message routing and delivery. FIG. 8 shows ahigh-level perspective of the entities involved in the architecture ofthe present invention. A receipt 22 can be generated by thecommunications platform and sent back to the Informant 24 through theSmartMessage Transfer Agent 26. For example, if the receipt 22 of anurgent message is not confirmed by the endpoint 20 designated by theuser, the platform can route the message to another endpoint until thereceipt of the message by the user is confirmed. This additionalintelligence also may incorporate location-based sensing anddevice-sensing capabilities. For example, the platform may changerouting directions based on device-sensing technology that allows theplatform to determine whether the device is on or off, or based onlocation-sensing technology that tells the platform where the device islocated. FIGS. 9A-D are an example of the code pertaining to a ReceiptSmartMessage Stylesheet.

FIGS. 10A through 10F show examples of the display screens for theendpoint setup and management pertaining to the novel communicationsplatform. In order to utilize the novel platform, a subscriber mustconfigure one or all of the endpoints 20 to be used on the platform.Once in the platform's website, the user can enter the endpoints webpage to add a particular endpoint 20 to the communications platform.FIG. 10A is a screen print of the endpoint setup page for the Centerpostcommunications platform. On this web page, each of the subscriber'sendpoints 20 is defined, including the type of endpoint 28, any nickname30 given to that endpoint, a description 32, device settings and options34. FIG. 10B is an example of a web page that describes the details 36for a particular endpoint, in this case, the subscriber's HTML Email.The subscriber can modify the details for this endpoint at this page,i.e., route certain SmartMessages to this endpoint, route allSmartMessages to this endpoint, etc.

The platform will allow the user to view and interact with the interfaceused to control his endpoints, from other communications channels asidefrom a website, such as from a voice phone using voice recognition or aWAP browser. The user thus will be able to, for example, adjust deliverypreferences and folio preferences from his PDA or mobile phone.

FIG. 10C is an example of a web page that allows the subscriber tomodify certain advanced options 38 for a particular endpoint. Forexample, the types of messages that the user would like to receive atthis endpoint, etc.

Once all of the information has been entered for a particular endpoint20, the subscriber enters the Save Endpoint 40 web page as shown in FIG.10D. This page allows the user to save all of the information previouslyentered pertaining to that particular endpoint. FIGS. 10E and 10F showthe screen prints for the Endpoint Test 42 web pages. The subscriber canuse these pages to test his endpoint and the configuration thereof.

FIG. 11 is a screen print of the delivery web page pertaining to theCenterpost communications platform. The delivery page provideshistorical information to the subscriber, including whether messageswere delivered, when they were sent and received, the endpoint they weredelivered to, etc. The delivery page example shown in FIG. 11 is for theuser's personal delivery information and is divided into three differentcategories: Informant 44, Activity & SmartMessage 46, and Endpoints 48.However, like all of the other pages described herein, the delivery pagecould be configured in a multitude of different ways.

FIG. 12 shows an example of the deployment architecture for thecommunications platform 100 of the present invention. In this example, aSmartMessage 10 is delivered, either using the Simple Mail TransferProtocol (SMTP) 50 or the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 52, to areceiving server 54. The message is transmitted to routing andprocessing servers 56 or transaction servers 58 (or both). Transactionservers 58 interact with web portal servers 60, which are accessible bycustomers 62 of the system and by particular guests 64. Transactionservers 58 also interact with various storage servers 66 to access userdata information 66 such as customer profiles, folios, messages, andother data. Further, the routing and processing servers 56 may delivermessages and other information to various other servers 70 forformatting and delivery to particular endpoints 20. These serversinclude email, phone or pager, text-to-voice, instant message, facsimileand US mail servers, among others. The messages are then delivered tothe particular endpoints 20. Further processing may include anacknowledgement 72 (or lack thereof), which may be sent back to theoriginal sender through the transaction server 58 and web portal server60. Also, firewalls 74 can be incorporated throughout the platformarchitecture in order to safeguard information transmitted over thecommunications platform 100.

FIG. 13 represents the simplified flow of a message from the sendingsource 24, 62, 64 to a SmartMessage processing server. As describedabove, SmartMessages 10 can be delivered to a SmartMessage processingplatform for processing using two of the most commonly used protocols onthe internet today—SMTP and HTTP 50, 52.

Initially, (as shown as A in FIG. 13) the Sender 24, 62, 64 generates aSmartMessage 10 and packages it in an email to be sent via SMTP 50, orin a HTTP 52 form to be posted through the HTTP protocol. TheSmartMessage 10 travels via the protocol through the Internet 76 and isrouted to the platform “mail” server (if sent via SMTP 50) or “web”server (if sent via HTTP 52). The mail/web server processes the incomingpackage and extracts the SmartMessage 10 from the HTTP 52 request orSMTP 50 mail message. Then the SmartMessage 10 is validated andprocessed. The SmartMessage 10 is then stored and potentiallytransmitted and formatted to the recipient's chosen endpoints 20, suchas email, wireless, fax, etc.

Another aspect of the present invention is nickname-based routing, whichenables outside senders to address specific endpoints 20 such as auser's pager, cell phone, or fax machine by sending messages to thereceiver's main address preceded by a specific nickname. For example, amessage could be sent to JohnDoe+Cellphone@centerpost.com and be routeddirectly to John Doe's cell phone. Similarly the message could be sentto JohnDoe+Homephone@centerpost.com and be routed to the receiver's hometelephone. The receiver flexibly defines the endpoint 20 such as“Cellphone” or “Homephone” which can be used by senders and also enablesor disables direct, nickname-based routing. Nickname-based routingeliminates the need for the sender to memorize multiple, potentiallychanging addresses for the receiver. Also, the invention will enabledynamic nicknames such as JohnDoe+Fax+3126346580@centerpost.com whichwill route an outbound message through the platform and out to thespecific fax number on behalf of John Doe's account. In this way, userscan send messages out through multiple gateways.

Another aspect of the present invention is the use of information foliosto organize the information that an individual receives. Even thoughemail currently can be organized into folders, it must be done either bythe user or by crude filtering methodologies in the user's emailprogram. However, SmartMessages can automatically organize, synthesize,and update themselves. FIG. 14 shows an example of a website containinga folio in accordance with the present invention. Folios also will beaccessible to users from multiple devices such as the user's PDA ormobile phone.

Information folios intelligently store, display, and synthesize incomingSmartMessages 10. Folios are organized into “activities” and “events,”and can include such information as the Informant 24, the activity 14and SmartMessage 10, the date 78 and the description 80. Both aredefinable by the sender. Events apply to activities. Activities caninclude 1) a bank statement for a given month, 2) an order from anonline book seller, 3) a travel itinerary, 4) home alarm status, or 5)messages from a specific person, etc. Events post to an activity andupdate the activity status based on the definition set by the sender.

For the above examples, events would be 1) a bank statement posting suchas payment received, 2) the order confirmation or shipping confirmation,3) airline booking or rental car confirmation, 4) home alarm events suchas a triggered alarm, or 5) individual messages from the specificperson, etc. Folios enable complex, detailed information to beautomatically organized and summarized based on open, flexible,sender-defined requirements. A folio is like an intelligent, automaticfiling assistant. Once given basic instructions, the platform willorganize messages, retrieve messages, alert you when important messagescome in, etc. Also the “assistant” will know how to respond in a varietyof situations including trying to contact the user through a variety ofmeans.

FIGS. 15A through 15F are screen print examples of the Folio aspect ofthe novel communications platform 100 of the present invention. FIG. 15Ais a screen print of a SmartMessage, in this example a SmartMessage fromFutureAir, that is automatically sorted and entered into the properActivity when received. The subscriber can view this SmartMessage at anytime to obtain all of the information sent by FutureAir in itsSmartMessage. In this case the SmartMessage indicated that Jane Doe'sflight number 219 was cancelled due to bad weather.

FIG. 15B is a screen print displaying the Delivery information for theparticular SmartMessage. In this example, the screen displays thedifferent endpoints that the message was sent to along with the status,date, and time.

FIG. 15C is a screen print of the history for a particular SmartMessage,in this case, the history for the FutureAir flight described above. Thehistory shows that flight 219 has been cancelled along with details foreach time a SmartMessage was sent to the subscriber. The SmartMessagewas automatically organized and placed into the proper Folio for reviewby the subscriber.

The “activity” element provides information about the activityassociated with the SmartMessage 10. An activity is a categorization ofevents. For example, an activity may be “Travel Itinerary” with suchrelated events as “Flight Cancellation”, “Flight Arrival Time”, etc.,and includes the following attributes.

Attributes purpose activity-class The class name of the activity. Thisactivity class name must be defined by the Informant and must match avalid activity class (activity-class- name attribute) in the referencedSmartMessage Stylesheet (<smXML>\smartmessage-stylesheet- version). Thematching activity-class-name in the SmartMessage Stylesheet containsmetadata, the XML schema and endpoint specific XSL documents about theactivity and more importantly defines the valid event classes for theactivity class itself. activity-id A unique ID to identify the activityinstance. Successive SmartMessages received with the same activity IDwill be grouped by this ID. For example, multiple event classes like“Flight Arrival Time”, “Flight Cancellation”, etc. can be grouped undera single activity class called “01/01/200 Travel Itinerary” byassociating the event classes with that ID. activity-url An associatedURL to the activity. This may simply link back to the Informants website or may contain query strings in the URL to link back to therecipient's account page. activity-title A descriptive title of theactivity. activity-status A short description of the activity status.closed-date Date the activity was closed in ISO 8601 format. This datecan be post-dated. If this attribute is empty the activity is assumed tobe open.

Another aspect of the present invention is a website that enables usersto quickly define their communications environment and control theirelectronic communications platform in an intuitive, friendly way; inother words, a point-and-click, drag-and-drop, intelligentcommunications center. The present invention provides an intelligent,self-configuring, easily controllable personal communications hub, aswell as a powerful web-based vehicle to view, organize, and storeinformation. When an individual changes cell phone, pager, or emailproviders, he or she need only change the address once on the website.This change of a particular endpoint will automatically become part ofthe user's communication environment, thereby precluding the need forothers to have the updated information. As endpoints such as pagers ormobile phones become more and more “intelligent,” they will ultimatelyautomatically configure themselves on the platform. Thus, when a userbuys, for example, a new cellphone, the platform will receive aSmartMessage from the provider and that endpoint will be automaticallysetup.

Another aspect of the present invention is an intelligent messagedelivery platform (Centerpost SmartDelivery), complete with a userinterface, which provides many of the advantages of MessageML, withoutthe need for an individual to open a new MessageML account. Acorporation can utilize the Centerpost SmartDelivery platform as aservice whereby the corporate customers can benefit from the Centerpostplatform from the corporation's web site.

SmartDelivery is a service that can be offered via the CenterpostPlatform as that platform is described above. The SmartDelivery serviceallows individuals to experience the benefits of MessageML only onmessages from the company sponsoring the SmartDelivery service, or onmessages from outside parties approved by the company sponsoring theSmartDelivery service. The SmartDelivery service provides a userinterface, which is seamlessly integrated into the corporation'sexisting web site. These SmartDelivery accounts can be specific to agiven corporation, providing these corporations the ability to sendSmartMessages (as described herein) to their customers or users throughthe Centerpost platform. The corporation may also house the user'smessaging interface on the corporation's own website.

The SmartDelivery service is designed to provider users with as much ofthe functionality of the SmartMessage service, without requiring theseusers to establish a new MessageML account. Instead of creating a newCenterpost account, users can easily complete a user profile on thepartner corporation's website, which will identify their endpoints andother information. By completing the user profile, using an easy pointand click interface, users can control which messages they receive fromthe partner corporation, and on which endpoints these messages arereceived. This function can be accomplished within their existing (or anew) account on the partner corporation's website. For example, afterlogging in to a user's existing account on a brokerage firm's website,brokerage customers users may be able to set up and manage theirSmartDelivery account directly on the brokerage's website, similar toother features located on the brokerage's website.

The SmartDelivery service is necessary because corporations want tooffer the advanced messaging features as described above withoutrequiring users to create new accounts. SmartDelivery may include all ora subset of the functionality offered in the Centerpost SmartMessageplatform, including folios, endpoints, delivery, settings, etc.Consequently, the Centerpost SmartDelivery service provides a benefit tousers as well as to corporations. Users can have messages delivered to asingle or multiple endpoints in a matter of seconds. Thus, if a user isnot sure whether he will be in his office or in transit, a message canbe sent to his office telephone and his cellular telephone at the sametime, thereby assuring that the user will receive the message as soon aspossible. Additionally, users can easily control which messages theyreceive on which endpoints with an easy to use graphical interface.Users can also set up their inbox in a manner such that all messagesreceived (and sent) are available for viewing in a single,self-organizing inbox.

With the Centerpost SmartDelivery Service, corporations can sendinformation to their customers on a wide variety of devices (e.g.,email, voice, fax, wireless, Instant Messenger). The corporation'scustomer service representatives can see an audit trail of all messagessent by the corporation, including time-stamped delivery reports.

The information or content pertaining to a particular corporation'sSmartDelivery service will only be accessible through the corporation'swebsite. In other words, users will be required to access theSmartDelivery service for a particular corporation through, for example,the user's accounts with that corporation. The functionality will beintegrated into the corporation's website using a web page or frame todisplay Centerpost content. Certain elements of the interface may becustomized in order to integrate the Centerpost content with the lookand feel of the corporation's website.

In order to implement the Centerpost SmartDelivery platform, eachcorporation offering the SmartDelivery service would have its own domainof user names. The provider will be responsible for logging the userinto their SmartDelivery account on the provider's website.SmartDelivery providers will have full read access to their customers'SmartDelivery accounts.

Only messages from the SmartDelivery provider (or selected partners ofthat provider) will be capable of being delivered to a user'sSmartDelivery account with that provider. The corporation's platformcould be configured such that one corporation could not send messagesthrough the other corporation's SmartDelivery account. Thus, messagesreceived from a sender not associated with the particular corporation,or an invalid sender, will be rejected by the system, unless the systemis configured to let those messages be delivered. For example, if onestock brokerage company attempted to send a message to the SmartDeliveryaccount of another brokerage firm's customer, the message would not bereceived by the customer's SmartDelivery account. However, if anairline, with the brokerage firm's permission, sent a message to thebrokerage firm customer's SmartDelivery account, that message would bedelivered to the account. Similarly, customers could not access theirother SmartDelivery accounts with one provider through the website ofanother provider. (In other words, customers could not access theirSmartDelivery account with an airline through their SmartDeliveryaccount with a brokerage firm, or vice versa, unless both SmartDeliveryproviders permitted it.)

However, if users established a SmartMessage account, messages fromtheir various SmartDelivery accounts could be forwarded to theirSmartMessage account without modifying the SmartMessage content.Consequently, these messages would then be managed and coordinated bythe Centerpost Platform with full SmartMessage functionality.

Users can choose to forward all of their messages to a CenterpostSmartMessage account. All of the SmartMessages that a user wouldnormally receive at the corporation's SmartDelivery account will berouted to that user's Centerpost SmartMessage account and will be foundin the user's SmartDelivery Folio. While the user will not need toaccess the folio on the corporation's website, the corporation will havethe ability to view the user's messages (those that were originally sentto the user at the corporation's SmartDelivery account) through theiradministrative or customer support site.

Another aspect of the present invention is a component of the CenterpostPlatform, the Amateur Informant. An Amateur Informant is an entity thatcreates and sends SmartMessages through the Centerpost Platform. Theobjective of the Amateur Informant is to simplify the process ofcreating SmartMessages, such that individuals, schools, smallbusinesses, etc. can take advantage of the benefits inherent in an XMLplatform such as the Centerpost Platform. The Amateur Informant providesfor the creation and publication of SmartMessages without the usuallynecessary coding using XML.

The Amateur Informant is required by entities, such as schools and othernot-for-profit organizations, individuals, and small businesses, thatcan benefit from the functionality of SmartMessages, but do not have thetechnical infrastructure or the individuals that can createSmartMessages in XML, nor the individuals that can manage an XML MessageProcessing Platform, including information such as the mailing lists,the receivers of the messages, etc. These functions can be expensive andtime-consuming. The Amateur Informant is designed to eliminate thesebarriers.

The Amateur Informant will be accessed through the web. Essentialelements of this aspect of the invention include a web-based designerthat will allow informants to easily create SmartMessages andSmartMessage style sheets (as described herein). The informantsinformation can be hosted on a web page specific to that informant,which is located on the Amateur Informant website. In addition, thisaspect of the invention will incorporate a way for the informant tomanage a mailing list, for example, on the Amateur Informant system,without the need to create the informant's own web-based mailing system.For certain applications, i.e., a school mailing list, the receiver ofthe messages may be allowed certain responsibilities, such as adding orremoving names to or from the mailing list, etc. The Amateur Informantalso integrates the sending of SmartMessages into a standard, widelyused electronic mail program.

The Amateur Informant aspect of the present invention may containstandard SmartMessages that an informant could send. These standardSmartMessages could include, for example, a delivery SmartMessage withthe text “I just sent you something”, along with the informationnecessary to track the packages via UPS or Federal Express. Otherexamples of standard SmartMessages might be an invitation SmartMessage,a newsletter SmartMessage, a reminder SmartMessage, and a change ofaddress SmartMessage, a picture/movie/sound SmartMessages, and a jokeSmartMessage.

Another aspect of the present invention is a component of the CenterpostPlatform, SmartResponses, which incorporates into the platform theability for an informant to define and drive automatic 2-way messaginginteraction with message senders. Currently, informants are unable tofacilitate automatic, real-time, convenient and meaningful 2-waymessaging with the recipients of their messages. This aspect of thepresent invention solves this problem.

With this aspect of the invention, informants send a SmartMessage with arequest for a response from the recipient, which is contained in theSmartMessage payload. The recipient will be able to choose from a listof responses originally defined by the informant and carried in theSmartMessage payload. The Centerpost Platform will gather therecipient's answer to the question in the most appropriate form for thedevice the recipient is using, format the response into the informant'sdesired format, and send the response back to the informant. With thisform of 2-way messaging, the sender has the ability to define in itsinitial message the content of the XML message it will receive back inresponse from the recipient, depending on the response selected by therecipient. The content of the initial message, the potential responsesby the recipient, and the XML-based messages that will be sent back tothe sender all are carried as part of the payload of the initialmessage. Thus, if a 2-way XML message is received on a cellulartelephone, the recipient should be able to respond either by using thekeys on the cellular telephone, or by giving a verbal response, whichthe system will process using voice recognition technology. If themessage is received on his PDA, the recipient should be able to replyautomatically using the PDA.

For example, if a stock broker sends a SmartMessage to a clientinforming him that a stock is doing well, and that client receives themessage on his cellular telephone, the client, will be able to respondto the message through his cellular telephone to inform his broker thathe wants to buy 200 shares of the stock. In the case of an airline, anindividual receiving a SmartMessage that his flight has been cancelled,would have the opportunity to rebook the flight by responding to the XMLmessage.

Another aspect of the present invention is a component of the CenterpostPlatform, the Personal Portal, which provides access to a subscriber'sselected personal information on a secure basis to the subscriber'sfriends, family, and colleagues.

The Personal Portal provides a subscriber's friends, family, andcolleagues with access to the subscriber's contact information,communications endpoints, and location. The Personal Portal comprises aweb page that displays information pertaining to the subscriber, i.e.,the subscriber's addressable endpoint nicknames, personal information,and current location all could be viewed from this page. The web pagecould be an endpoint or show a sub-section of the subscriber's folio. Asan example, a subscriber could post a travel itinerary to this web page,so colleagues could view flight information, etc. Access to the pagecould be controlled by the semi-private security system described in apatent application entitled Method Of Controlling Access To PersonalResources, filed concurrently and incorporated herein by reference.

Another aspect of the present invention is a feature of the CenterpostPlatform, the endpoint wallet, which provides an XML-based repository ofa user's message delivery information and preferences. This may includeinformation such as the user's device addresses, settings, and defaultdelivery options. The endpoint wallet is associated with a specificuser, and is independent of the user's accounts.

This aspect of the present invention provides a set of informationdelivery instructions that a user can carry with them to each website.Thus, when a user visits a retail site, for example, if he has anelectronic wallet, his information, including address, credit cardnumber, and shipping information is automatically entered into thewebsite. Similarly, if a user visits a retail site that requests theuser to set up notification messages (as described herein), i.e., orderconfirmation, shipment information, or billing, the endpoint walletautomatically transfers the information to the user's list of endpoints,including the way the user wants information routed by default.

The account platform will recognize the existence of an endpoint wallet,and the user will then confirm that information from the endpoint walletshould be transferred to, or used to populate messaging set-up fields.The endpoint wallet can reside on both the user's device and theCenterpost server.

The objective of this aspect of the invention is to facilitate usersattempting to set up and manage endpoints, and also trying to direct theflow of information to those particular endpoints. When a userestablishes a new SmartDelivery or SmartMessaging account, the endpointwallet will populate device information and settings in the accountautomatically, obviating the need for the user to re-enter thesesettings and preferences each time a new account is opened.

Another aspect of the present invention is a SmartMessage thatautomatically sets up a new messaging device or account as an endpointin a user's SmartMessage account. For example, if an individualpurchases a new cellular telephone, that telephone (or service provider)could send a SmartMessage to the user's designated SmartMessage orSmartDelivery account setting itself up as an endpoint.

If the user has no SmartMessage or SmartDelivery account, this messagewill create a new account and then add the sending device as anendpoint. This invention will minimize the individual's time and effortin setting-up and maintaining endpoints. The Centerpost messagingplatform will have the capability to watch for these messages andprocess them appropriately.

With the present invention, among other applications, individuals canreceive a variety of valuable event-driven alerts as well as regulartext messages, automatically process those alerts leveraging their emailboxes, faxes, wireless devices, folios, and other people, view thedetails or synthesis of the SmartMessages that have been received, sendSmartMessages to other subscribers, and intelligently route and processemails.

By sending SmartMessages, corporations can create all types of valuablealerting features that extend beyond email and reduce spamming. Sincethe invention takes care of complex formatting, routing, and processingfunctions, corporations can reduce their messaging development cost andcomplexity.

The invention's SmartMessages enable corporations and individuals tointeract in compelling ways that are not effective with email or webbrowsing. Folios further enable this information to be captured,synthesized, and viewed is a highly organized manner.

Certain example applications are listed below (see FIG. 3C foradditional example applications).

An airline can electronically accompany customers through their travelitinerary:

-   -   Send ticket confirmation to work email inbox.    -   Send confirmation of rental car booking    -   Send destination weather report to home fax machine 24 hours        prior to departure to aid packing.    -   Send gate, baggage claim area, and local traffic report to pager        30 minutes prior to landing.    -   Send a flight delay alert 1 hour before scheduled departure    -   Send flight landing confirmation to secretary's email.    -   The above events can be posted to an activity created around a        specific trip itinerary.

Security monitoring companies can keep homeowners aware of activity:

-   -   Send alarm notifications to all of spouses' endpoints: work        email, pager, PCS phone, and fax.    -   Send consolidated alarm on/off activity to personal email        once/week    -   The above events can be posted to an activity created around the        home alarm status

Television and media companies can keep customers aware of changingofferings:

-   -   Send TV programming episode information to personal email 24        hours in advance.    -   Send NFL football programming to pager every Sunday morning.    -   Send special interest radio programming to work email each        morning at start of business.    -   Send announcements of movie premiers and local theater info as        they occur.    -   Send rental movie titles once/week to personal email.    -   The above events can be posted to activities organized around        program types or time frames.

Financial service firms can send customers all sorts of information, andknow their customers will find it manageable because they areSmartMessages:

-   -   Send security price, volume, and analyst estimate change alerts        to work email and pager.    -   Send check clearing notification to personal email.    -   Send trade confirmation to personal email.    -   Send portfolio positions report to personal email once every        business day.    -   Activities can be created around a person's portfolio, the        monthly investment statement, or watch lists.

Retailers and manufacturers can proactively keep customers informed oftheir order flow:

-   -   Send order confirmations to personal email.    -   Send shipment and order confirmations to a “folio” for        subsequent easy retrieval and review.    -   Send updates on status of long-running or custom-manufactured        orders, such as backorder arrived, in route to dealer, and        product in test.    -   Activities can be created around specific orders.

Similarly, the invention enables users to communicate usingSmartMessages with other platform users. For example, one user couldsend a “changed home address” SmartMessage to another user and have itautomatically updated in the receiver's address book folio.

The receiving entity does not have to be an individual. As appliances,cars, telemetry devices, and other network devices are connected to theInternet, they can directly receive SmartMessages about maintenancestatus, parts orders, etc.

The foregoing detailed description of the invention is intended to beillustrative and not intended to limit the scope of the invention.Changes and modifications are possible with respect to the foregoingdescription, and it is understood that the invention may be practicedotherwise than that specifically described herein and still be withinthe scope of the claims.

1. A communications platform that enables users to receive electronicmessages from corporations and others comprising an XML basedmessage-processing platform, said processing platform comprising: atleast one server that receives the electronic message addressed to theplatform, the electronic message comprising a routing indicatorcomprising at least one user identity and one or more messageattributes, wherein the one or more message attributes include “folios”which include information folios that intelligently store, display andsynthesize “incoming” electronic messages; at least one database thatstores a user-defined endpoint table, the endpoint table correlatingendpoints with sender defined message attributes; wherein the platform:comprises a sender stylesheet and an electronic message stylesheet,wherein said sender stylesheet describes meta-data pertaining to theinformant, said electronic message stylesheet describes an activity andan event and XML schemas of said activity and said event, and defineshow said activity and said event is transmitted to at least oneendpoint; selects a first endpoint from the plurality of endpoints basedon the user identity, the message attributes and the user-definedendpoint table; routes at least a portion of the electronic message tothe first endpoint; determines whether the user received the at least aportion of the electronic message at the first endpoint; if the user hasnot received the electronic message, selects a second endpoint from theplurality of endpoints based on the user identity, the messageattributes and the user-defined endpoint table; and routes a portion ofthe message to the second endpoint.
 2. The communications platform inclaim 1, wherein determining whether the user received the at least aportion of the electronic message at the first endpoint comprisingreceiving acknowledgment.
 3. The communications platform in claim 1,wherein the acknowledgement is received from the first endpoint.
 4. Thecommunications platform in claim 1, further comprising determiningwhether the electronic message is urgent; and wherein determiningwhether the user received the at least a portion of the electronicmessage at the first endpoint, selecting a second endpoint from theplurality of endpoints, and routing a portion of the message to thesecond endpoint are based on the determination whether the electronicmessage is urgent.
 5. The communications platform in claim 4, whereinthe routing indicator indicates urgency of the electronic message. 6.The communications platform in claim 5, said at least one endpointcomprises an electronic mail box, a wired or wireless telephone, afacsimile machine, a paging device, or a personal digital assistant. 7.The communications platform in claim 1, wherein said meta-data includesinformation pertaining to the sender's name, website address, andindustry category.
 8. The communications platform in claim 1, furthercomprising logic for examining the sender stylesheet to authenticate thesender.
 9. The communications platform in claim 1, wherein said at leastone endpoint comprises an electronic mail box, a wired or wirelesstelephone, a facsimile machine, a paging device, or a personal digitalassistant.
 10. The communications platform in claim 1, wherein saidInformant stylesheet and said SmartMessage stylesheet reside on saidInformant's web servers.
 11. The communications platform in claim 1,wherein the platform selects a first endpoint from the plurality ofendpoints based on the message attributes based on a user-definedendpoint table.